The number of single mother-households has risen steadily in the US in recent decades. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2016, 83% of all single parent families were headed by single mothers. That US readers are expected to be concerned about this development, and particularly about single mothers raising boys, is evident from the great number of advice books available on the market. Some are specifically aimed at single mothers of boys, promising to teach them how to raise "successful" or "strong" sons. Presenting themselves as sympathetic and supportive helpers, many of these books still invoke guilt and fear, suggesting that single mothers are likely to damage their young sons not only emotionally but also physically, listing for example "the 5 major diseases and ailments that your son is more likely to acquire without his father" (Allen and Dickerson, 2012). Placing the books in a context of changing societal notions of family and parenthood, I analyse the language and strategies employed to perpetuate the traditional notion that a woman, particularly on her own, is incapable of raising a boy to become a man.